Naruto: Changing Winds
by youzabeast
Summary: There've been some changes to the Naruto timeline. Chunin Exams, Orochimaru, Kyuubi, and Itachi, among other things. Of course, Naruto is right in the middle of it all!


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Naruto: Changing Winds

Chapter 1: Fight in the Forest

Roaring fire racing through his veins, he ran fast, fast as the wind that blew him away, faster, faster! Fear permeated his consciousness, not for himself, no, but his friends, in danger. _S…Sa…_He couldn't even remember their names, just the fear, and the anger. Hatred, even, hatred of the man who caused this fear for causing this fear, for putting his friends in danger. Faster, faster, there!

A flash of color, red, through the trees. His heart chilled. _Red like blood._ No. Wait. Different. Sudden movement to the left caught his attention. Changing course, he darted to intercept, the long body, slithering through the trees, sliding back and forth, tongue darting out to taste the air.

His red eyes widened. _Big._ He landed on a branch, barely hesitating before pushing off, sharp nails…_claws?_...digging into the bark. No time to think, no plan, just go! _Gotta save them.._

Who? Save who? _Sa…Sa…_, who are they? A boy, red eyes like his own. A girl, the red dress seen through the trees. Friends, his instincts told him. They're friends.

The snake tensed, suddenly propelling itself forward through the trees. Moving, faster than ever, he darted in front of it. Back turned, bracing himself, impact! Spine cracked, intense pain, but he held his ground. Soon, however, the pain was replaced with the warm, irritating feeling that came with the healing of bad injuries. He glanced upward, red eyes, so much like his own, yet so different, stared back. They stared in shock, fear, gratefulness…jealousy?

XXXXXX

Red eyes stared into red eyes, taking in everything, from the movement of leaves from an unfelt breeze, to a twitch in the snake behind his…what? What was he to him? A friend, rival, brother? Not brother. He had enough of those. _Stupid, prodigy brothers…Focus!_

Movement from above, there was a man on the snake, dressed in a flowing red and black cloak, smirking down at the potential fun.

He felt a touch from behind, his hand darting for a weapon before remembering who it was. Sa… He grit his teeth, forcing his attention towards the danger. A bubble of fear forced its way to the surface. _Stay alive…the scroll…survive…give him the scroll…don't die…sacrifice the girl…_ He jerked his head cutting off the train of thought.

No. He's stronger than this, this freak! The terror that pervaded his consciousness eased slightly, allowing for clearer thought. _I will not die here, _he thought, narrowing his red eyes, black marks spinning lazily as every detail was recorded into his mind.

Movement!

"Gah!" he weezed, as the breath was knocked out of him.

_Fast!_ His only thought at that moment was how fast the man had moved. His Sharingan could barely track him, and his body only had time to twitch before the freak's fist planted itself in his stomach.

"Sasuke!" shrieked the girl behind him. She, however, instantly quieted as the freak shifted his gaze to her.

Only to turn away from her a second later as a red blur flew blasted towards him like a shot from a cannon.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" shouted the blur in a gravelly voice, almost a bark, as dozens of copies, all with red eyes and claws of their own, _popped _into existence around them.

The cloaked man leapt back as the area he previously occupied was filled with kunai and shuriken, allowing Sasuke to crumple to the forest floor. He grinned. Biting his thumb, he wiped the resulting blood across a previously hidden tattoo on his forearm. Two snakes appeared, accompanied by a small amount of smoke. One wrapped itself around the girl, squeezing her arms to her body and ensuring that she could only take the most shallow of breaths. The other sank its teeth into Sasuke's upper arm, causing him to jerk as poison was injected into his body. Moments later, Sasuke was unconscious.

XXXXX

She could barely breath, partially because of the snake restricting her chest, partially because of the absolute _terror_ she felt. Falling to her knees as tears poured out of her green eyes, she could only watch as her teammate attacked the snake man. Except...that wasn't her teammate. Or, at least, it didn't seem like him. Surrounded by a shroud of red chakra, his fingernails sharpened and lengthened into claws, and his eyes...God, his eyes! They were red, like Sasuke's, but the pupil was slitted, like an animals. He radiated bloodlust and hatred, even more so than the man that had come out of nowhere and attacked them.

The snake squeezed tighter, driving the remaining breath from her body. She thought she felt her ribs crack. _This...this is the end...can't...breath..._ Sakura's vision went black as she collapsed to the ground, not breathing. The snake slid away after a moment, returning to its summoner to provide assistance against the red demon.

XXXXX

Naruto growled as he watched the man. He couldn't touch him! Even with the boost from the red chakra, the man was too fast, too agile. His hands suddenly came together, flashing through several seals faster than Naruto could blink. Before he could move, ropes of earth shot up from the ground beneath him, wrapping around his arms, legs, feet, and neck.

Suddenly, the man was there in front of him, his smirk widening. That damned smirk had never left his face through the entire battle, no matter how many clones he rained down on the freak, how many kunai and shuriken he threw, how many explosive tags he used. Naruto snarled, straining against the earth ropes.

"No, no, let's not have any of that. How about..." The man trailed away, apparently lost in thought. Pulling out a scroll, he bit his thumb again and dropped some of the blood into a vial of ink he pulled from a hidden pocket in his cloak. Quickly drawing some sort of complicated design using his finger to wipe the blood infused ink on the paper, he made five hand seals.

"Chakra Sealing Method: Demonic Design," the man muttered, placing one hand over Naruto's stomach while the other touched the center of the seal on the scroll. The red chakra seemed to condense at his hand, then flowing through the man's arm into the scroll.

The man shuddered as the chakra flowed through him. Grinning once more, he rolled up the scroll, replacing it inside his cloak.

"This should be useful," the man said to himself as he turned away from the prone form, only held up by the earthen ropes.

Removal of the Kyuubi's chakra so suddenly from his system had caused Naruto to fall unconscious from shock. The man turned back towards Sasuke, then stopped as he heard several people land hard on the ground behind him, the sound of their feet hitting the ground muffled with chakra.

"Step away from the boy, Orochimaru."

Without turning, Orochimaru smirked. "So nice to see you again...Itachi."

The clearing exploded as several jutsus collided.

XXXXX

The Sandaime glanced up from his desk as he heard a faint rumbling in the distance. His eyes narrowed. He could see a faint glow of fire emanating from the Forest of Death.

Sarutobi turned towards one of the hidden ANBU in the room. "That was too strong for a group of genin. Take a squad and go see what's happening. Offer support if necessary, but send someone back with a report."

The ANBU nodded and silently vanished.

Turning back towards the window, he sighed. _I'm getting too old for this..._ he thought, not for the first time.

XXXXX

Anko's body tensed as she felt the chakra from the explosion wash over her. _Orochimaru..._ Abandoning her patrol, she darted towards the point of emanation, her two teammates close behind.

_You won't get away. Not this time._

XXXXX

Itachi frowned. None of his attacks were having any effect. He saw them connect, saw the resulting damage, then...what? Orochimaru disappeared for a moment, then came back looking fine.

His Sharingan spun quickly as he locked eyes with Orochimaru, placing him under a genjutsu that, while not extremely powerful, should delay him for enough time to...

Ha! The snake summoner jerked, eyes widening as one of Itachi's teammates plunged a sword through his stomach, then dissolved into a pile of mud. Itachi spun around, catching the fist aimed at his face with his left hand while dodging the snake that darted at him from below, Sharingan making everything appear to be in slow motion. Pulling the man closer, his right hand flashed through three seals before erupting in a fountain of electricity. Chirping sounded from his hand as he shoved the hastily created Chidori through Orochimaru's chest. _Thank you, Kakashi..._ The snake summoner opened his mouth to scream, wider, wider...wait, not screaming. A new Orochimaru erupted through the old one's mouth, conspicuously lacking a large hole in his chest.

Itachi's eyes widened as Orochimaru smirked and, moving too fast at too close a distance to block, plunged a silver longsword through Itachi's right shoulder. He stumbled back, clutching at his shoulder his other hand. Orochimaru roughly pulled out the sword, quickly decapitating one of Itachi's teammates who rushed in to drive him back.

The Sharingan wielder locked eyes with his remaining squad member and mouthed go. He vanished in a burst of speed before Orochimaru could turn around. The cloaked man frowned in displeasure before turning his attention back to Itachi.

"Pitiful insect, running for help. That does, however, shorten the amount of time I have to play with you. I'll make it quick, if not painless."

Itachi's good hand started making seals as quickly as possible, and almost completed a jutsu before Orochimaru impaled his sword through his hand, then his body, locking the hand to his chest.

"Good-bye."

The last thing Itachi saw before falling into unconsciousness was a blur of purple and tan leap at his attacker.

XXXXX

AN:

So, how's that for a first chapter? The next ones will most likely be longer. I've always like long chapters. Regarding the changes to the timeline, well, you'll find out more soon. No idea when the next chapter will be out, might actually be a while.

Also, how were the fight scenes? I know I made them pretty short, but I want your opinions.


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